Adult intussusception : A 14-year retrospective study of clinical assessment and computed tomography diagnosis

Intussusception in adults often remains unrecognized. Our aim was to report our experience with this entity to determine the usefulness of CT scan in its preoperative diagnosis.

The medical records and imaging studies of all patients ≥16 years of age with intussusception, who were managed at our hospitals, were retrospectively reviewed.

17 cases of adult intussusception (7 males, 10 females; mean age 35.9 years; age range of 16-78) were identified. The diagnosis was possible in all patients using CT scan. The underlying etiologies were colon cancer (n=2), lymphoma (n=2), small bowel polyps (n=2), jejunal lipoma (n=1), metastatic melanoma (n=1), Meckel's diverticulum (MD) (n=1) and idiopathic (n=1). In the remaining 7 patients, the intussusceptions were of the transitory form and were treated conservatively and no significant sequela occurred after a follow-up of 2-60 months. CT scan findings in transient cases characteristically showed that the intussusception was localized to the proximal intestine and all of them had a short segment (2-4 cm) of intussusception.

The important role of the CT in the preoperative diagnosis of intussusception and characterizing its causes cannot be overemphasized. All transient cases had a short segment of intussusception.